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These boats are more WW than Flat Posted by: Kocho on Apr-17-13 8:42 AM (EST)

-- Last Updated: Apr-17-13 9:06 AM EST --

If all you need to run is the occasional class 1 or 2 with lots of flat water, you might think of a short sea kayak instead. The ones you picked are much more WW oriented and as such are slow and overbuilt. Something like WS Tsunami 135 and a slew of other similar boats might be better for what you describe.

That said, if you see yourself venturing more into class 3 and higher WW, then the ones you looked at will be a better choice. The Karnali is a river runner that will be a pig on the flats for long stretches - slow and poorly tracking by flat water standards, plus it might feel unstable to a beginner in moving water compared to the wider and more stable XP 10 for instance.

You can learn to roll in any of the above. A full foot plate IMO is very nice to have, compared to foot pegs, for active paddling (but it eats-up space in the front).